Sectional upward acting doors are ubiquitous as residential garage doors throughout storm prone geographical areas. The large, relatively unsupported portions of these doors make them particularly vulnerable to high windloads tending to collapse the door inwardly into the garage or outwardly through the garage door opening.
Several inventions have been developed for reinforcing garage doors to prevent damage resulting from atmospheric pressure differentials, commonly referred to as windloads. However, there has been a continuing need to provide improvements in sectional garage door reinforcing devices. Since the need to provide extra reinforcement for the door is only on infrequent occasions, it is desirable to provide a reinforcement which is temporary and can be disassembled and removed from the garage door opening when the threat of high windloads passes. In this way, the door itself is not required to be of extra strength and the unacceptable weight and higher cost resulting therefrom.
To meet the criteria mentioned above, sectional door reinforcing post assemblies have been developed which are temporary structures put in place during the threat of high windload atmospheric conditions. It is desirable to provide a reinforcing post assembly (or assemblies) which is easily and rapidly erected and taken down by the occupants of a residence or other structure at which the post is to be used, while at the same time providing a reinforcing post assembly which meets the criteria of reliable operation. It is to these ends that the present invention has been developed.
The present invention provides an improved reinforcing post assembly for use in reinforcing a sectional upward acting garage door against implosion or explosion resulting from windloads or other atmospheric caused differential pressures across the door.
In accordance with one important aspect of the invention, a door reinforcing post assembly is provided which includes an elongated tubular or channel shaped beam which is relatively lightweight, but vigorously resists bending loads. The post or beam includes an improved attachment mechanism at its upper end to facilitate ease of connection of the post to a fixed wall bracket disposed over the door opening. The post also includes easily actuated locking members or pins which are operable to support the lower end of the post assembly with respect to the garage floor.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a door reinforcing post assembly is provided which includes plural flexible cable retainer straps which are cooperable with brackets and removable retainer pins mounted on adjacent sectional door panels in a manner that facilitates easy connection of the post assembly to the door panels and resist disconnection from the panels as a result of high windloads, vibrations and minor movements of the door during severe windload conditions.
The sectional door reinforcing post assembly of the present invention is easily adapted to operate in conjunction with a wide-variety of sectional doors, is easily installed during new construction or retrofitted to existing sectional doors, is economical to manufacture and does not require substantial training or instruction to install and remove with respect to its working position. Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the above-mentioned advantages and superior features of the invention upon reading the detailed description which follows in conjunction with the drawings.